Property boom returns as Galway prices rocket once again

The residential property market in Galway is booming again, with the volume of sales up by one-quarter so far this year.

And with the State’s Housing Agency backing claims from the construction sector and auctioneers that thousands of new homes are required in Galway, a recovery in the building industry is looking increasingly likely.

That has the potential to create thousands of new construction and spin-off jobs in the city and county.

Official figures from the Government’s Property Price Register (PPR) show there were 1,649 sales registered in the city and county up to the end of August (September figures are not yet complete).

That’s up a whopping 24.5% on the same period last year, when there were 1,324 sales registered.

And with the Housing Agency identifying a need for a further 3,525 houses in the city and county up to 2018, the construction sector is also hopeful of a recovery.

Meanwhile, separate new research has shown that asking prices for residential properties in Galway have jumped by a whopping 40% in less than two years.

The figures from property website Daft.ie show that asking prices in the city have rocketed by 38.6% since the end of 2013.

Since asking prices hit their lowest point in the county two years ago, they have now risen by more than 20%.

While a ‘health warning’ should be applied to the Daft.ie property surveys as they are based on asking prices as opposed to eventual selling prices, the PPR records the actual selling price of properties (although there can be delays in sales being recorded).

An analysis of the PPR by the Connacht Tribune shows that in the first eight months of 2014, there were 1,513 sales registered in Galway with a total value of €201.4 million.

The comparative figures for the same period this year are 1,649 properties with a combined value of €280.8m.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.